


Head Above the Waves

by whinywonwoo



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Fluff, M/M, Mermaids, Merman!Hansol, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, prince!seungkwan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 09:36:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19461277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whinywonwoo/pseuds/whinywonwoo
Summary: When the island dweller arrived at the rock, he met eyes with Hansol and smiled the most beautiful smile the merman had ever seen.





	1. Chapter 1

The light reflecting off of Hansol’s tail cast little flecks of rainbow against the formations lining the cove as he stretched out on a rock, basking in the glow of the afternoon sun.

The secluded bay was blocked off on two sides by large rocks, stretching upwards to reach the towering castle that blocked the third side. The privacy of the cove was what had originally drawn Hansol to the area. Being able to enjoy the breeze and direct sunlight without the fear of being found by the island’s inhabitants was all Hansol’s dream that had been made a reality by his discovery of the cove.

Occasionally, the young inhabitants would accidentally wander into Hansol’s private oasis, but he always had enough time to dip beneath the surface of the water before the children’s parents snuck in to bring them back to the public beach.

Hansol was the only merman who knew about the cove, and he planned to keep it that way.

While sunbathing, Hansol heard a voice fairly distant, but too close for comfort. He quickly slid off the rock into the tide pool, swimming through the shallow water in an attempt to get closer to the sound. Hansol pulled himself up onto a boulder that was closer to the sand and spotted the source of the voice: an island dweller with a jacket covered in shiny trinkets and a handkerchief filled with the round, orange objects that fell from the island’s trees.

-

“Seungkwan? Seungkwan!”

The young prince lifted his head off of the desk, letting out a yawn and rubbing at his eyes before focusing on the face of his trusted advisor, Soonyoung.

“Huh? What are you yelling about?” 

Soonyoung sighed, “You need to quit falling asleep during your teachings unless you want your mother to have my head.”

“It’s not my fault that the lessons are ridiculously boring!” Seungkwan stood up from his seat, making his way to the door.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going? Your lesson isn’t over!” Soonyoung yelled after him.

“It is now.” Seungkwan said to himself, making his way down the castle’s hallway.

-

Seungkwan made his way down to his private cove behind the castle with a handkerchief wrapped around a few tangerines. The prince had always loved this cove since he was young and would often lay a towel by the calm waters and have a snack or rest for a while.

As he settled down on the blanket, Seungkwan began to sing quietly to himself. The song he sang was one his mother had taught him when he was a child, a bright and cheerful tune about a magical world filled with fairies, elves, and even mermaids.

While scanning the familiar view surrounding him, Seungkwan noticed a tuft of bronze hair peeking out from behind a boulder. The prince wasn’t bothered by the presence of another person in the cove, as he was used to the young villagers getting confused while swimming by the public beach. Deciding that he would help whoever was there to their original destination, Seungkwan made his way over to the rock, bringing a tangerine with him as a sort of peace offering.

-

Hansol noticed the island dweller making his way over to the rock Hansol was behind (definitely not hiding because he isn’t afraid of land dwellers, no matter how much his friends beg to disagree). He quickly ducked lower and tried his best to hide his tail from the other’s sight.

When the island dweller arrived at the rock, he met eyes with Hansol and smiled the most beautiful smile the merman had ever seen.

“Hello! My name is Seungkwan, what’s yours?”

Hansol didn’t respond, too shocked that he had just referred to a land dweller as beautiful.

Land dwellers aren’t beautiful! They’re ugly, mean, evil, and they smell gross!

At least, that’s what Minghao had told him…

The land dweller spoke again, “you don’t talk much, huh?”

Hansol shook his head no and moved his gaze to the round orange thing that ‘Seungkwan’ was holding.

Seungkwan must’ve followed his gaze because he lifted the object up towards Hansol’s face making the merman jerk his head backwards.

Seungkwan giggled, “Have you never had a tangerine before?”

Hansol shook his head once again, although he was quite pleased to finally know the name of the orange object.

Hansol watched intensely as Seungkwan peeled off the outer layer of the tangerine, revealing a lighter orange sphere split into small sections. Seungkwan pulled off one of the sections, handing it to Hansol who proceeded to stare at it blankly. 

Seungkwan gave him a questioning look before popping the section into his own mouth, “suit yourself, then.”

As Seungkwan went to put another section in his mouth, Hansol grabbed his wrist and opened his mouth, catching Seungkwan’s attention.

Seungkwan smiled at him and placed the piece of the tangerine between Hansol’s lips.

Hansol bit into the slice and squeezed his eyes shut at the slightly bitter taste that burst into his mouth. When he opened his eyes, Seungkwan was looking at him expectantly.

Hansol responded with a bright smile, showing off his teeth and causing small wrinkles to form around his eyes.

Seungkwan smiled back just as bright, making his cheeks look even more squishy.

“Oh my god I want to poke his cheeks,” Hansol thought to himself, the idea bringing a flush to his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

Seungkwan continued to switch between feeding Hansol and himself and by the time they finished the tangerine, the sun had started to set. 

Seungkwan sighed, collecting to tangerine peel, “I should be going. It was nice to meet you!”

Seungkwan began to walk away and Hansol panicked, not wanting to land dweller to leave just yet.

“Hansol!” he blurted out, causing Seungkwan to turn around and look at him, “my name is Hansol.”

Seungkwan laughed to himself and collected his blanket, heading back up the rocks towards the castle, “It was nice to meet you, Hansol. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Seungkwan.” Hansol whispered to himself before making his way through the tide pool and diving into the ocean.


	2. Chapter 2

“Why do you look so happy?” Hansol heard a familiar voice asked as he got closer to his home.

Hansol giggles at that, “No reason!”

“Oh really?” Minghao scoffed, “I haven’t seen you look that happy in years!”

Hansol picked up speed, not-so-subtlety trying to escape his curious friend, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, though. This is my normal face.”

Minghao looked unimpressed, “Sure it is. Now are you gonna tell me the name of whatever cute guy is making you all giggly or am I going to have to guess?”

Hansol sputtered, “T-there’s no boy! What are you saying?”

“What else could possibly make you that happy?” Minghao questioned, catching up to Hansol.

Hansol thought for a minute, “Tangerines.”

Minghao looked lost at the sound of a word he’d never heard before, “Tan-jer-eens? What is that?”

Hansol waved his hands in front of him, clearing the school of vibrant yellow tangs that had taken up residence in front of his home, “The orange balls that hang from the island’s trees. They’re delicious!”

Minghao helped Hansol move the large rock covering the entrance to Hansol’s home and invited himself in, leaving Hansol behind to watch the elder’s deep purple tail disappear past his makeshift front door.

“And how did you manage to get one of those?” Minghao asked, staring down Hansol as if he could find the answer in the younger’s eyes.

“... I may have had help from a really tall merboy,” Hansol murmured, sitting next to Minghao on the algae-covered stone he uses as a bed.

Minghao jumped up from Hansol’s bed, pointing a finger accusingly at him, “I knew there was a boy! Is he from around here? What’s his name? What’s his tail look like?”

Hansol panicked, not thinking his lie through, “he’s not from around here and his name is… uhh…” Hansol’s eyes darted around the room trying to think of a name, “Rock...y. Yeah, Rocky.”

“Rocky? Is he from the Atlantic or something?” 

“Something like that…”

-

The next day, Seungkwan made his way down to the cove again, carrying a small pouch filled with various fruits that he hoped to share with the boy he had met.

Luckily enough, as Seungkwan made his way along the white sand, he saw a pair of eyes accompanied by fuzzy brown hair peeking over the rock they sat by the previous day.

Seungkwan smiled as the boy sat up, no longer needing to hide after he realized who was walking towards.

“Good morning, Hansol.” Seungkwan said as he sat on the opposite side of the rock, setting his pouch on top of it.

Hansol looked at the small bag curiously before meeting Seungkwan’s eyes and giving him a bright smile that made the corners of his eyes wrinkle.

“Oh wow he’s even cuter than I remember,” Seungkwan thought to himself, staying silent for a minute to allow himself to truly take in the beauty of Hansol.

“You look beautiful when you smile like that.” Seungkwan found himself saying before he could even think about his words.  
That made Hansol flush from the tips of his ears all the way down to his chest, “Thank you, Seungkwan.”

Seungkwan grinned at how bashful Hansol looked before deciding to open up his pouch, “I figured that if you’d never had a tangerine that you probably haven’t had many other fruits, so I thought I could bring some for you to try.”

“Wow,” was the first thing that came to Hansol’s mind when he saw the beautiful array of shapes and colors lying in front of him, “they’re so colorful.”

Seungkwan couldn’t help but find it endearing how fascinated Hansol looked over something as boring and common as fruit, “Which one do you want to try first?”

“That one!” Hansol said, pointing to a peach Seungkwan bought from one of the sweet old ladies that set up shop on the boardwalk.

“That’s a peach.”

Hansol nodded softly repeating after Seungkwan, “peach.”

Seungkwan took a bite first, showing Hansol how to eat the foreign object before going to hand the fruit to Hansol. Instead of taking the peach into his own hand, Hansol leaned his head over, closing his eyes and taking a bite as Seungkwan continued to hold it.

Hansol made a small, delighted noise, the corners of his lips turning upward as he locked eyes with the beautiful boy sitting in front of him. He was about to say how much he enjoyed the peach but before he could get the words out, he felt something touching his bottom lip.

Seungkwan had reached his hand over, swiping his thumb just below Hansol’s bottom lip before bringing his thumb to his own lips, sucking the juice off of it without ever breaking eye contact with Hansol.

“Did you like it?”

“I… uh y-yeah, I did…” Hansol trailed off, blushing a deeper red than he ever has before.

“Try this one!” Seungkwan said, passing Hansol a lemon slice.

Hansol figured that the fruit was just a lighter-colored tangerine, so he bit into it enthusiastically only to be met with a sour taste that instantly made his jaw ache.

Hansol’s eyes scrunched close and his lips puckered as he let out a high-pitched squeaking sound. 

After taking another bite of the peach to get the taste out of his mouth, Hansol noticed Seungkwan, doubled over and laughing so hard that he was in tears.

Hansol giggled along with him for a bit before the smile slowly dropped from his face. He didn’t want to lose this. He’d only known Seungkwan for two days and was already becoming attached, but he couldn’t help the fears plaguing his mind.

What if humans are as awful as Minghao says they are? What if Seungkwan won’t talk to me anymore when he finds out what I am? What if, what if, what if?

Hansol turned around, facing the clear water he calls home. Everything would be so much easier if only he had legs.

When Seungkwan finally stopped laughing and wiped his tears away, he noticed that Hansol was no longer facing him.

“Hansol?” 

No response.

“Hansol? I’m sorry for laughing… but it wasn’t at you! You just looked so cute with your face all scrunched up.”

Still no answer.

Seungkwan stood up, making his way to sit by Hansol to try and apologize to his face but Hansol’s distressed voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Wait!”

“What? Is everything okay?” Seungkwan asked, waiting for a sign that he could approach Hansol.

“I… uhh, t-there’s something I n-need to, um… s-show you…” Hansol said weakly, anxiously playing with his fingers.

“Okay?” Seungkwan said, becoming more confused by the second.

“Promise you won’t freak out?”

“Okay, I promise.” Seungkwan said, trying to think of what Hansol could possibly be so scared to show him.

Hansol sighed shakily, “okay, come here.”

Seungkwan made his way around the rock, noticing the tiny flecks of color reflecting onto the sand by his feet before his eyes fell on what Hansol was so afraid to show him.

A tail? What? How? 

Seungkwan had so many questions but the only sound that escaped his mouth was a gasp.

Hansol’s eyes were tightly shut, afraid of the other boy’s reaction. They stood there in total silence for what felt like hours. Hansol could feel his throat close and fat tears well up in his eyes, terrified of losing Seungkwan after only knowing him for two days.

“Please s-say something, Seungkwan…”

Seungkwan’s eyes were wide and bright, barely even registering Hansol’s words before responding.

“Wow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey it’s been a while I hope you guys liked this even tho it’s sad and sorta a cliffhanger feel free to yell at me @whinywonwoo on twt/cc ok thank you for reading bye bye

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and you’re just as excited as I am for this fic! Let me know what you think in the comments or you can yell at me on twitter or curiouscat (both @whinywonwoo) <3


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